Shadowsan
Suhara, primarily known by the codename Shadowsan, is a former member of the V.I.L.E. Faculty and now a member of Carmen's crew. Appearance Shadowsan is a middle aged Japanese man with a semi shaved head, moderate wrinkles upon his face, and a physically fit form necessary for conducting stealth operations efficiently. His attire while a Faculty member in V.I.L.E. included a blue-grey men's Haori, accompanied by a medium gray Hakama trousers, and Setta sandals. After joining Carmen's crew, he switches to a black polo with grey trousers, and black shoes. Whenever venturing on stealth operations for Carmen, he will wear a black shinobi disguise. Personality In V.I.L.E., he was known for his discipline and no-nonsense demeanour, and was considered the strictest of the five Faculty members. He believes that origami is the best way to master a nimble touch for pickpocketing, giving someone precision focus and helping attention. He is extremely irritated by any lack of discipline, such as when 'Black Sheep' would pull pranks and be a disruption to class; or the times Paper Star would use her origami weapons in class for simple matters. However, he couldn't bear to leave a young and defenseless infant Black Sheep in her fathers burning home, proving that he has more morals than the other villains, and after her escape, he felt better, believing she'd start a new life, but had to contend with her stealing from V.I.L.E., which complicated his position. In the months after her departure, he covertly 'reasoned' with the Faculty as to why certain operatives should handle some missions, allowing Carmen some room for victory. Abilities As a former member of the five masterminds of V.I.L.E, Shadowsan had near supreme authority in the organization before his defection. He is a skilled origami craftsman, believing that origami is the best way to master a nimble touch necessary for picking pockets. He knows the human body so well he can easily target its weak points, as when he knocked Coach Brunt unconscious by pinching a nerve on the back of her neck. He is highly agile despite being middle-aged, as seen when he was able to evade and trip both Carmen and Tigress during their final exam; even following Ivy on a rooftop chase across Poitiers with little effort. Shadow-san is also incredibly strong as he has shown being able to throw grown men with ease in the "The Daisho Caper." Shadowsan is implied to be highly skilled with a sword, likely due to a need for swordsmanship skills being an assassin and close-quarters-combat specialist. Shadow-san also is a precise marksman as shown in "The Daisho Caper" where he knocked a man out by throwing two chopsticks at him. Biography Early life Shadowsan was born in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan, as Suhara, the younger brother of Hideo. As they grew, Hideo was the more scholarly and responsible sibling, while Suhara was the exact opposite. They lived a simple and poor life that Hideo was content with. However, Suhara believed he deserved more, so he decided to become a thief and joined the Yakuza. He stole the katana of a legendary samurai's daishō, on display at Matsumoto Castle's museum, where Hideo worked as a curator, as an initiation, but before he could steal the accompanying wakizashi, Hideo thwarted him and Suhara fled with the stolen sword, therefore severing his relationship with his brother. V.I.L.E. At some unknown point, he joined V.I.L.E. and was a pupil of Dexter Wolfe- the Faculty member teaching Stealth 101. It was following his theft of the Katana that he saw himself as a shadow of his former self, choosing his codename of "Shadowsan". Some time after graduation, Shadowsan was ordered by the Faculty to assassinate Wolfe, after learning that he had stolen resources from V.I.L.E. and believing that he was planning to run. Shadowsan followed the movements of his former teacher to his home outside Buenos Aires, where he discovered that Wolfe indeed was leaving V.I.L.E., but the reason he intended to do so was that he now had an infant daughter. Shadowsan saw that the character had shifted in Wolfe so much, that he continued to observe until nightfall. However, before he could commit the assassination, Interpol agents swarmed Wolfe's home, and Shadowsan witnessed a young agent kill Wolfe, believing his car keys to be a gun. With no recourse, Shadowsan burnt down Wolfe's home to erase evidence and brought the baby back to V.I.L.E. Island, having nowhere else he could take an orphan. Explaining most of the story and amending some details, the Faculty adopted the baby, giving her the codename Black Sheep (Carmen Sandiego), after seeing she had inherited some of her father's skills in pickpocketing, believing they could mold her into a perfect operative, Shadowsan, however, hoped he could somehow redeem himself by secretly guiding the child. The Faculty then awarded Wolfe's vacant seat to Shadowsan in return for his deed. Teaching at V.I.L.E. Academy Years later, when young Black Sheep wanted to start training to become an operative, he told the V.I.L.E. council that Black Sheep was too young and immature to enroll in V.I.L.E. Academy, but was outvoted by the other Faculty. He recommended expulsion when Black Sheep pulled her annual water balloon prank on Cookie Booker, but was routinely outvoted. When the time came for Final Exams, Shadowsan required that each student find a single dollar bill he had hidden in his coat with many pockets, with the other students finding it. As Black Sheep was called to take the exam, he sabotaged her by leaving the coat empty, subsequently failing her. Black Sheep requested a do-over, but Shadowsan refused and forced her into a remedial year. When Black Sheep accused him of leaving the coat empty, he became furious and denounced her accusation. Following Black Sheep's stowaway to Morocco, it was her defiance that threatened to be her end, but thankfully Coach Brunt argued for stricter supervision; allowing Shadowsan's concern to remain hidden. During the hard drive incident, Shadow-san pulled out his trusted katana sword, and before meeting the Cleaners, he cut the wires on their helicopter and tried to join Black Sheep in her escape, keeping his sword drawn as a ruse. Black Sheep, unaware of his true intentions, assumed he was coming to attack when she saw his sword was drawn, so she left him behind. Shadowsan would stay on the island, secretly planning his escape. Capers The Chasing Paper Caper When Professor Maelstrom wanted to send Paper Star to steal the Magna Carta, Shadowsan was against it, saying that the girl wasn't ready, but was out voted on the matter. The Lucky Cat Caper For the San Francisco Caper, Shadowsan suggested sending Tigress to retrieve the $10,000,000 stamp from Mime Bomb, stating that she was one of his best students. When in reality, he wanted to give Carmen the chance to one-up her old rival, and give Carmen another win by keeping V.I.L.E. from gaining such a funding. Shadowsan doubted the Cleaners would be able to arrive in time to pick Tigress up before she lost the stamp, only for Coach Brunt to reveal that she sent the Cleaners ahead of time, much to Shadow-san's annoyance. Upon discovering some connection between Carmen Sandiego and Agent Chase Devineaux, Shadowsan offered to deal with the problem himself. But when Coach Brunt volunteered as well, Shadowsan believed that Brunt was too soft on Black Sheep, which Brunt vehemently denied. Ultimately, it was decided that both Brunt and Shadow-san would handle this together, much to Shadowsan's annoyance. The French Connection Caper After kidnapping Devineaux, they attempted to question him about A.C.M.E and his connection to Carmen. When he was uncooperative, they put a brain scrambling helmet on him that would force the truth out of him. Seeing Carmen through a window, Shadowsan said he will go deal with her while Brunt continues the interrogation; Brunt however did not wish to let Carmen get away. When Coach Brunt finally caught Carmen after a brief battle and attempted to bear hug the life out of her, Shadowsan knocked out Brunt and saved Carmen from being crushed. He then helped her escape by going through a tunnel in the ground and helped carry her to the top of a bell tower. There he told her that when she first made her escape from V.I.L.E., he was actually trying to join her, and the drawn sword was a ruse. He also elaborates it was he who sabotaged the helicopter, being the only reason she wasn't captured by theCleaners immediately after her escape. He explained his caring for her, thusly why he was always hard on her and confessed to purposely failing her Final Exam. He didn't want her to lead a life of evil, and knew she would never accept V.I.L.E.s methods, and knew what they would do to her when she refused. After saving her and knowing there would be no changing her path, he left her a new V.I.L.E. Data Hard Drive for more capers to pull before he disappeared into the night. The Hot Rocks of Rio Caper Seeking to disrupt one of V.I.L.E.'s mining operations, Shadowsan traveled to Rio de Janeiro - disguising himself as a Carnival reveler. Zack and Ivy disrupted him while he was surreptitiously tailing Le Chevre, so Shadowsan incapacitated them so that they wouldn't get hurt or in his way. Making his way to V.I.L.E's mining operation, he realized Carmen had been captured and tricked Le Chevre, El Topo, and Tigress into thinking he'd only pretended to betray V.I.L.E. so as to lure Carmen into a trap. Shadowsan freed Carmen and they escaped by clinging to the side of a bus; Carmen later asking Shadowsan to tell her what he knew of her past, though he refused. Carmen and Shadowsan commandered V.I.L.E.'s aquatic tank - disguised as dragon-shaped parade float - and disguised it as a duck, enabling them to evade detection. The Daisho Caper Shadowsan next returned to his hometown in order to return the sword he had stolen in his youth, hoping to reconcile with his long-estranged brother. After encountering Hideo, Carmen confronted Shadowsan assuming he had come to steal the wakizashi and complete the daisho, but Shadowsan revealed his true intentions and his past to her. Japanese V.I.L.E. operative Lady Dokuso, partnered with Paper Star, stole the wakizashi to lure Shadowsan and Carmen into a trap. While Carmen pursued Paper Star to retrieve the wakizashi, Shadowsan engaged Lady Dokuso's Yakuza minions at her nightclub, defeating them with his bare hands and a set of chopsticks. Shadowsan abruptly collapsed and Lady Dokuso revealed she had poisoned the chopsticks with a nerve toxin emulating puffer fish venom, intending to kill him with his own sword; but she was stopped by Carmen - who had retrieved the wakizashi - and forced to retreat emptyhanded. After the poison's effects wore off, Shadowsan returned the katana he stole and apologized to his brother, prostrating himself as a sign of remorse. However, Hideo rejected his brother's apology and Shadowsan left. The Fashionista Caper The Boston Tea Party Caper The Need for Speed Caper The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper The Stockholm Syndrome Caper The Deep Dive Caper Relationships Trivia * He is a foil to Coach Brunt. Both were parental figures to Carmen, but Shadowsan was more stern, and opposed of her becoming a VILE thief, seemingly to hate her. While Brunt was a Doting Parent, shed a tear of joy when Carmen enrolled in their school, and never shied away from showing love to her adopted daughter. ** Upon Carmen's betrayal, Brunt's response was to try and kill her for turning on family, but it was Shadowsan who truly always cared for Carmen and didn't want her to become a VILE thief because he thought she was better than that. * Though his motives for helping Carmen appear to be genuine, its possible that he may also have a secondary motive: helping Carmen significantly weakening the resources of the other members of the Faculty, whilst also ensuring that his own remain relatively untouched to make him the strongest. *In 1994's Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?, Suhara was the name of a great Japanese detective who mentored Carmen when she was an A.C.M.E. agent. See also *Coach Brunt *Countess Cleo *Professor Maelstrom *Dr. Saira Bellum *The Cleaners *Carmen Sandiego (2019) Category:V.I.L.E. (2019) Category:V.I.L.E. Faculty Category:Carmen Sandiego (2019) Category:V.I.L.E. Category:Carmen's team Category:Male